The Monmouth County Prosecutors Office responded to the scene along Hurley Pond Road just after 4 a.m. Friday.
The incident was initially investigated as a fatal hit-and-run, but the investigation has led police in a different direction.
"Suspicious deaths get treated like a homicide, we haven't labeled it a homicide, but we'll treat it as one so that we can find out what happened -- someone died so we need to know why," said Charles Webster with the Office of the Monmouth County Prosecutor.
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The victim is believed to be in his 20s or 30s and showed signs of severe head trauma.
Authorities say there is not a larger danger to the community and they believe the death is an isolated incident.
An exhaustive search for evidence was conducted, including dive teams searching nearby bodies of water.
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